Cabin in the Woods
American Horror Film
Directedand written by Gerald McMorrow
Known for:
Cloverfield (2008)
World War Z (2013)
Daredevil (TV Series) (2015)
The Sinister Six (2016)
Box Office
Budget: $30,000,000
US Gross: $42,043,633
Opening Weekend: $14,743,614
Release:
USA - 9th March 2012 - (South by Southwest Film Festival)
UK - 13th April 2012
Distribution:
Lionsgate - UK & USA theatrical releases
Cast:
Chris Hemsworth (Known for his leading role in Thor (2011)
Kristen Connolly (Actress in The Happening (2008)
Richard Jenkins (Known from Step Brothers (2008) and Jack Reacher (2012))
Fran Kranz (Lesser known actor from Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2011) and Homeland (TV series) (2009)
Facts:
Plays on the tropes of a conventional horror narrative by implementing a variety of monsters and situations as a form of parody.
An inter-textual reference to Sin City (2005) is made by one of the monsters on a white board being called Kevin, a monster esque character from Sin CIty.
Discussions were had about converting the film into 3D despite distaste by Drew Goddard, this led the film's release date to be postponed until the idea was rejected.
Nobody is killed until 44 minutes into the film, making the film's pace pick u[p rather quickly towards the climax.
Whiplash:
American Independent film Written and directed by Damien Chazelle
Budget: $3,300,000
US Gross: $13,092,000
Opening Weekend: $135,388 (US)
First-time director
Production Companies:
Bold Films
Right of Way Films
Blumhouse Productions
Release:
USA - 16th January (2014) - (Sundance Film Festival) (Premiered)
UK - 15th October (2014) - (London Film Festival)
Distribution:
Sony Pictures Classics (2014) (USA) (theatrical)
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2015) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
Sony Pictures Releasing (2015) (UK) (theatrical)
Cast:
Miles Teller (Known from 21 and Over, Project X and the upcoming Fantastic 4-2015)
J.K Simmons (Known from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy)
Paul Reiser (Seasoned actor from Aliens (1986), Mad About You (1992)
Melissa Benoist (Television actress from The Good Wife, Homeland and Law & Order)
Interesting Facts
A majority of the scenes were only filmed a couple of times, leading the cast to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the film's narrative.
Many of the extras in the studio band's reactions were genuine, as they were only hired to play the music and did not read the script.
The slaps from Simmons to Tellers was a spontaneous gesture from the pair as they grew tired of rehearsing the same section, the slap was kept for the final shot.
All of the music played in the live sections were actually played during filming.
During intense drumming sections, after the scene was over, Damien Chazelle would refuse to yell "Cut" so that Teller would continue playing and become more fatigue.
Marketing: Poster 1:
Accolades:
Golden Globe Nomination (Golden font)
Best Supporting Actor (J.K. Simmons)
Quotes from reviews
Poster 2:
Visuals:
Theme of the film (drumming) is presented along with a quote; "The road to greatness can take you to the edge" - main character (Andrew) is standing at the edge of the drumstick looking down on everyone from "the top". (Alt-interpretation) He looks like he is about to jump of from the high point due to the personal challenges that he is presented with during the film.
Written by Dan Sterling (screenplay) and Seth Rogan (Story)
Directed by Evan Goldberg (Known for This is The End (2013), Pineapple Express (2008) and Superbad (2007) Seth Rogan (Known for This is The End (Alongside Evan (2014)
Box Office:
Budget: $44,000,000
US Gross: $6,105,175 (Theatre)
Opening Weekend: $1,085,515 (USA) (Theatre)
Production Companies:
Columbia Pictures
LStar Capital
Point Grey Pictures
Release:
Released on December 24th 2014 - Through digital and selected art houses theatres
Distribution:
Columbia Pictures (2014) (USA) (theatrical)
Xbox Video (2014) (USA) (video) (Video-on-demand)
Google Play (2014) (USA) (video) (Video-on-demand)
YouTube (2014) (USA) (video) (Video-on-demand)
Cast:
James Franco (Known from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet - Dear friends with Seth Rogan)
Seth Rogan (Known from Pineapple Express, Donnie Darko (debute), Superbad - Stars in most of his own directed films)
Randall Park (Major acting debute, had small scene in The Office (USA)
Diana Bang (Television actress from The Killing, Fringe, Bates Motel)
Marketing:
Gained worldwide attention including death threats towards the stars and the directors of the show
Was at one point, banned from being released due to fear from North Korea's retaliation until President Obama lifted the ban
September 11th attacks mentioned during a threat from the hacker community nearing the film's release - many theatres refused to show the film out of fear of a terrorist attack
Only selected art houses in America would show the film, however, the film was available to rent and buy from digital on demand stores such as Xbox Video and Google Play
The drama that this film caused since it's announcement created a large amount of hype
How important are visual effects as the main attraction for audiences?
Fraser McKean AS Film
Visual effects are implemented to increase the immersion and overall aesthetics of a film, certain genres such as fantasy, sci-fi and other genres that utilize heavy use of this graphical engineering more than not, benefit from it. Using visual effects can create a great deal of short cuts for the film-maker, including the creation of landscape, impossible architecture, monsters and other aesthetically pleasing sights, this can be used in some good ways to also increase a film's popularity when done correctly, this can also be the case for the complete opposite however, as some films are panned at the box offices for providing and implementing poor visuals which can completely ruin the immersion and the overall experience.
One film that makes a good use of visual effects is The Hobbit franchise, directed by Peter Jackson, as each of the three films use a high range of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) such as the ability to create large battle scenes as well as the dragon that is feature in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The franchise is praised for it's excellent use of visual effects and does not draw any consequences due to how in the franchise's latest entry; The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) had a budget of$250,000,000 and made $255,108,370 in the USA box office, this is noted as a success which also contributes to a well received visual effect effort.
Another film is J.J Abrams' Star Trek (2009), a science-fiction action film that makes use of a large portion of visual effects such as CGI, with a budget of $140,000,000, it is more than likely that a large percentage of this went towards the visual effects as this production. Visuals are a contributing factor to the Sci-fi genre such as the Star Trek and Star Wars franchises, this is due to the expectation of space battles and demanding CGI elements that have become to be a standard for many films within this genre, it is arguably the most important asset of this genre.
Other films such A Two-Faced Charade (2015), an American independent short-film by Charlie Anderson uses some visual effects that have been poorly received by critics, one the effects includes colour alteration of a character's eyes, this is an example of when a visual effect that is originally intended for an enhanced viewing for the audience, becomes a "tacky" and "off-putting" experience that distracts from an already positive rating (9.1 - IMBD) from Charlie Anderson, who is a Digital Imaging technician that worked on box office successes such as 22 Jump Street (2014) and Now You See Me (2013).
James Cameron's Avatar (2009), is a film that has gained world renowned fame for it's execution of stereoscopy vision as well as it's animation quality, making $760,505,847 from the USA box office from it's budget of $237,000,000, it made three times the amount that Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug made, despite a higher budget in the latter. This is a prove of concept that the execution of the visual effects which can justify the immersion that the audience has can greatly impact the success of the film.
Under the Skin, an independent directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlet Johansson, is a sci-fi genre film that again, conforms to the expectation of using a large amount of visual effects that have come to be expected in the genre, however, the visual effects in this feature are more of lighting, hues and cinematography such as the strobe lighting and filtered views from colours ranging from blue, to green, to red as well as editing scenes together but replacing certain items with others, in one instance, a man is deflated and is similar to that of a plastic bag being popped. This is all an extended element of visual effects and although they do not bear a strong resemblance to the CGI work of Avatar or The Hobbit, they offer an alternative to the recycled visual effects that are included in many modern sci-fi pieces.
As a conclusion, the importance of visual effects in the film industry largely depends of the quality that it is included in the actual film, as it has been proven that a film's rating and success can hinge of the validity of some visual effects, whether it completely hinders the overall film, or if it is it's own greatest asset, the status of visual effects can only be judge on the basis of how it is executed.
My intention was to create a psychological horror within a two-minute period as the it conforms to the connotations of the psychological horror sub-genre, it also follows a contemporary narrative on the subject of bullying that I felt would disturb the audience as it is a topic easy for the audience to relate to.
The certificate rating of this film is a 15 and therefore would target the age group of fifteen years old and above. Due to the implied violence as well as one use of strong language, the film would be regarded as a 12A if it was not for the main weapon being a hammer, which the BBFC regards as "easily accessible to 12 year olds", this rating limits the box office income, however, I realize that this would limit my audience.
I switched between using a Point of View (POV), Over the Shoulder (OTS), mid-shot, close-up and two-shots to The flashback sequence was shot entirely as a POV shot for the purpose of immersion for the audience by showing a first-person perspective of the protagonist and a conventional third person perspective. Iconography is presented in my film from the establishing shots of a hammer; giving connotations of violence and danger, and the notation of alcohol is a representation of a flaw in the protagonist of the text. Each scene was shot three times, allowing me to use several different viewpoints in the editing process, I found that this was an incredibly useful asset as it gave me the tools to use several different perspectives on the one particular action without having to re-shoot.
Standard conventions of the horror genre included in my film were a complicated Protagonist/Antagonist, danger in an isolated, familiar area; death and soft non-diegetic music. The murder scene was shot in the victim's bedroom to present the feeling of "even your safe place, isn't safe" in a horror film, this I felt, made my film rather generic and if I was to re-shoot I would change the murder scene to somewhere that was not a motif of the horror genre. Another convention of psychological horror was the inclusion of blood curling screams and shrieks that were place in sectioned areas of the narrative, such as the flashback sequence in where multiple screams were heard, this was to unsettle the audience and make them question what was happening and why someone was making those screams, however, I feel that this was too repetitive and whilst editing it would become difficult to make the main non-diegetic music take priority of the mise-en-scene.
For the overall audio presence, I chose to
only use non-diegetic audio in an attempt to eliminate any unwanted background
noise and to have complete control over the editing of the film. I used several
audio samples in my editing and reversed many of the music tracks to create the
sound of a door closing or the illusion of automation in the audio. There were many audio files in my film that were reversed and looped to create an uncomfortable sound.
I chose a complex character in a simple situation
in order to represent the psychological horror convention of an anti-hero such as in Michael Morrissey's Boy Wonder. horror films such as Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" and John Carpenter's "Halloween" include a realistic antagonist that is the subject of disturbing circumstances such as my film's message on bullying. After watching my film in it's finished state, I feel that the main character's motives are conveluted and although their character could be interpreted in different ways, I feel that their emotion is cold and could have been fleshed out with some subtle form of exposition.
My short film followed a non-linear
storyline that would make the audience question where in the timeline they were, the film starts with the main character sitting solemnly, drinking, this was intended to before the murder, but due to the series of flash-forwards that were used as split-scenes for the cinematography, a group of viewers of my film had completely different perspectives on where in the narrative this scene took place, as this was the intention of the scene I had hoped for, I understand the confusion and in the future I would proceed to follow a slight structured narrative scene such as the flashbacks that were shown in a sepia filter, this was a clear indication of a flashback as well as an exposition device for the audience ot decode.
How does the use of cinematography and performance create tension and suspense in the apartment sequence from Franklyn?
The scene opens with a mid shot of a red headed woman, due to this shot size it is easy to analyse what type of emotion the character is showing, we see her emotions which appear to be of melancholy nature, the shallow depth of field neglects anything else in this scene, focusing our attention onto her.
This shot is also used to create an eye line-match with a Milo, across the table, as the mise-en-scene consists of dim red, black and beige colours and the formal style that both characters are wearing, it can be assessed that these characters are having a formal dinner of some sort and as the mood is tense due to the uncomfortable atmosphere of the setting such as the performance given by the actors Eva Green and Sam Riley by their whispering and their desire not to be seen together. It can also be assumed that this scene is a build up for some kind of act as the scene thus far has not had any form of shock tactics or action scenes which in this film seem to switch from in rotation to the scenarios.
As Sally stands up, the camera slowly zooms out and tilts up whilst facing her, when Milo stands up also, there is a cut to a mid two shot of both of these characters, this is used to see the connection between both of these characters by sharing a shot to show emotion between them, as this shot is also shown at a low angle, I get the sense that these people are above me on an emotional level, this can be backed up by the Milo; afraid of showing his emotion of Sally, the fact that this is a shot-down low angle shot it is evident that it is used to show that Milo is no longer afraid and therefore feels above himself and anybody else in the room who may judge him differently.
An over the shoulder shot is used from Milo's perspective to show the dialogue between the two, this then jumps to a zoom in shot of the two exchanging a kiss, this then makes the non-diegetic become much more tense and ambient, Sally then has an emotion of horror from the an over the shoulder shot from Milo before a cut to a mid shot of her and then her body become blue, by the mise-en-scene, this gives off connotations of depression, isolation and drowning, by Eva Green's performance we see that Sally has been ripped away from what she desires, we see her pain as she reaches out to Milo for help before vanishing, this type of CGI cinematography is common in Franklyn but this is the first time that we see such type of visuals in the "real world" which had a element of shock to me as I watched it.
As Milo walks backwards in a sense of confusion and horror, there is a cross cut to the view from a sniper scope that is above Milo, there is then a cross cut to across the street where a man is shown in a close up shot holding a rifle and pulling the trigger, we see his concentration and his rifle recoiling back from the low angle shot of outside the window.
There is then a gap in the non-diegetic music as a close up of Milo'sarm is seen shot and left limp, there is then a zoom out mid of Milo who is holding his arm and checking for blood, a shot of another man standing up looking shocked and puzzled, as the glass behind Milo shatters in slow motion as the tense non-diegetic music returns. This scene made me personally feel empathetic to the character of Milo as due to the descending, diminished non-diegetic music returning, it felt to me, that this character was just being beaten and bruised over and over again throughout the narrative, Sam Riley's performance shows the shocked horror of his expression as he falls to the floor and admits defeat in this scene, the connotations of the colours that Milo is wearing gives off the signals of grim, grave and death, which relates with the mise-en-scene of the shot.
The next scene worth discussion is the dialogue between Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green; who plays another character, Emilia, this character is the polar opposite to Sally. Ryan's character Jonathan is presented with a close up shot that focuses on him as he attempts to aim his gun at Milo again, as he does there is a slow zoom in shot towards Emilia; crouched next to a gas heater with her lighter open, threatening to release the flame and engulf the apartment in fire, she tells Jonathan that if he knew her at all, he would leave, cryptically explaining that she is indeed crazier than she looks at first sight, the non-diegetic music compliments this as the music becomes much more frantic and unpredictable with the constant gaps in the music, as unpredictable as Emilia is in this scene.
Jonathan takes another look and aims his sights at an older man, hesitating with before shooting, a cross cut to the older man sees a close up of him taking off his glasses and taking in a breath, accepting his fate and allowing Jonathan to eliminate him, the non-diegetic music then changes to a soft-melancholy tone that fades into the scene, Jonathan lowers his rifle and walks slowly towards the window as if to try to bring himself closer to the outside world, as a war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder, this could be his cry for help and his desire to reach out into a society and acceptance. There is also a long distance eye line match to these two characters as the camera zooms in on both of them separately, this could signify that these characters are important to each other despite their troubled differences.
We then see Emilia standing up across from Jonathan, symbolizing that she is as much in authority if not more so than him, she points the lighter at him as if it were a gun, the tables have shifted in this scene as to start with Emilia was the damsel in distress and was shown to be submissive to the hostage taking of Jonathan, she is now seen to be in power and dominate over him.
Shortly after this we see the close up shot of Jonathan and Emilia exchanging the lighter for the keys, as Emilia takes the keys, this symbolizes the freedom that she has been after as she has been locking herself away within her own apartment but now she has the means to allow herself to leave, and as Jonathan takes the lighter from Emilia, this symbolizes how he has come a full circle, he began with violence to save people, but then after only bringing agony and worry to those he failed to save, he must die in violence, the lighter signifies flame and anger, this could be the acceptance that he has been after, that he is a violent man who deserves to burn.
Towards the end of this scene between Emilia and Jonathan we see a devastated Jonathan ask Emilia for her name, after a puzzled Emilia replies, Jonathan quietly weeps and admits that his name is David but "in this world". Proving that Jonathan is a tortured soul that cannot tell between realities, a similar trait to his opposite, Milo, in where he is a victim of his own loneliness which led him to lose his grip on reality, Jonathan is the manipulator who was fully aware of his own world and therefore was his own downfall. The last scene between Emilia and Jonathan is Jonathan saying to Emilia "I think it's time you left". However, this could be argued that he is at this point talking to himself, as at this point it is clear that Jonathan has lost sense on any form of reality and he is contemplating suicide.
As Emilia runs to her door, she takes one last look around her apartment where she sees room turn golden and take on a gothic tone as the camera pans round. Beautiful golden sculptures and disturbing paintings, this is the CGI cinematography that has layered over this film and one of the reasons why this film is memorable in terms of a visual piece, the transformation of this dark architecture sweeps from right to left until it comes to Jonathan, who is now wearing a mask and a trench coat, this coat is a convention of film noir, Sin City (2005) by Frank Miller which shows people with trench coats as heroes and similar to that of a cape that a superhero wears, Jonathan's coat is without any flare or emotion as it just lies flat to the floor, his mask contains a blank expression with two black circles around his eye sockets, this relates to his feelings in the mise-en-scene as he is distraught as his clothing with the colours of beige, brown and black are connotations being sad or almost completely emotionless.
There is then a low angle facing up towards Jonathan as a close up of his weeping face showing his emotions towards what he has done to himself and others so far in this scene, he closes his eyes tightly to finally accept his fate as he releases the flame from the lighter into the gas-filled apartment.
The final segment of the clip includes a low angle shot facing upwards to the explosion from the apartment coming through the window, there is then a parallel edit from this to a close up of a man who is engulfed by light, this then cross dissolves into the previous shot of the window at the apartment which is now covered with falling ash.
